There Is Nothing But Silence Now
by Beckyhelene
Summary: [PROO] After a long and tiring battle, one ranger is left on the brink of death.
1. Feel the Warmth of Your Embrace

Disclaimer: Power Rangers and all characters therein belong to Disney.

Summary: After an intense battle, one ranger is barely clinging to life, while the other feels like dying.

Timeline: Takes place after Just Like Me, but before It's Hammer Time (since I've yet to see that episode, heh)

This fic is in response to the Power Ranger Romantics Clan's July Challenge over at rangerboard[dotcom.

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Ronny stumbled to her feet, one arm hugging her midsection while the other held her weapon at her side. She fought to catch her breath as she took stock of the situation. It had started out like any other battle against one of Flurious' monsters. The rangers fought, six to one, and looked to be winning before a horde of monsters appeared. It had been a sort of trick. Flurious wanted the rangers to exert themselves on one creature and then send dozens more to fully take advantage of this. Ronny rolled her sore shoulder as she looked to either side of her. Mack, as their leader, was the first one to be pummeled as Flurious' little creations seemed to focus the bulk of their attention on him to the point that he was now lying on a heap on the ground. Rose, who looked as if she was fighting an internal battle just to remain conscious, was holding him close to her with her weapon held out, ready to protect him if any of the creatures tried to take advantage of Mack's current state. Will and Tyzonn were charging at the multitudes of beasts, hitting them as fast as their sore muscles would allow while Dax was standing between a small group of monsters and Rose and Mack. Ronny jumped slightly as she saw Will was flung out of the fray. He didn't make a sound as his back collided with the brick wall of the building before hitting the ground with a thud.

"Will!" Ronny exclaimed, alarmed at the sight of yet another one of her friends lying in an unmoving heap. She quickly went over to him and rolled him onto his back, slowly lying his head down. "Will," she repeated, hoping to get an answer as she laid her hand on his chest. Will groaned as his head rolled to the side for a second before looking back at her. "Are you okay?"

"Never better," he said; the smirk evident in his tone. Ronny smiled with relief at that but her smile quickly faded when she heard the sound of Tyzonn grunting and groaning as he struggled against the beasts. Ronny looked over and saw a gang of six seemingly taking turns punching and kicking him. Ronny's attention was brought back to the friend lying beside her as Will placed a hand on hers, making her turn to look back at him. "Go help him, I'll be fine," he said. Ronny nodded and scrambled to her feet before rushing to fight beside Tyzonn. The two rangers fought the majority of the creatures as Dax stood back and took on any that got past them. After some time, the others must've gotten their second wind as she saw black, pink and even a red helmet peeking out between the monsters before her, lightening the load for the other three as they took on a few. Their perseverance won out as one by one each of the creatures was destroyed, except for two—Mig and Benglo, who had joined in on the festivities. The rangers all stood together as they faced the lone Fearcats, although some were more leaning on others for support rather than standing on their own, in the case of Rose and Ronny, who were leaning on Mack and Dax respectively.

"Give up, you two," Tyzonn said, pointing the tip of his weapon towards him. There was an extra bit of venom in his tone as he addressed them.

"In your dreams, ranger!" Mig scoffed as Benglo cackled. Tyzonn went at them, ignoring his teammates who were calling after him. The other rangers gathered what little strength they had left and charged forward as well. Dax, Rose and Mack took on Mig as Will, Ronny and Tyzonn fought against Benglo not too far away. Benglo slashed at Tyzonn and Will's chests, making the two rangers groan as they fell to the ground, leaving Ronny to face off against him alone. Unfortunately, Ronny was already blowing through the remains of her second wind and was therefore no match for the Fearcat as he slammed his foot against her chest, sending her tumbling on the ground, her body bouncing slightly as it rolled. She groaned as she pulled herself back to her feet, swaying slightly as her body seemed to protest such movement.

"Time to end this, yellow ranger," Benglo sneered. Ronny's eyes drifted shut, trying to regulate her breathing and rid herself of the blurry vision that was plaguing her. She opened her eyes and saw Benglo holding some kind of device, a weapon. She tried to lift up her own weapon to defend herself but her arm simply lay limp at her side.

"RONNY!" She heard someone scream. Slowly, her head turned, all she saw was a figure running towards her. She felt the embrace wrap around her just as her knees gave out. There was something so wonderfully warm and comfortable about the embrace. Ronny closed her eyes and was almost tempted to give a contented sigh when suddenly she felt a large pressure on her chest. Her eyes snapped open as she grunted, the force from this pressure knocking her off her feet. She heard other people yelling and even heard two voices cackling, but they all seemed so distant in that moment. All Ronny could comprehend was that there was some sort of dead weight on top of her and the warm embrace now felt slack around her. The cackling seemed to fall away before she heard four different voices yelling and four sets of feet clomping on the ground. She groaned. All she wanted now was to fall asleep in the embrace, her body was so tired, why were there people making all this noise?

TBC...


	2. See the Sadness in Your Eyes

Disclaimer: Power Rangers and all characters therein belong to Disney.

The others stood in a shocked state as Mig and Benglo cackled. They didn't even notice when the two Fearcats disappeared. Will was the first to react as he scrambled to his feet, which seemed to stir Dax, Rose and Mack into action as they joined Will in running over to their fallen friends.

"Guys!" Will stated as he slid to his knees by the pair of still bodies. Mack and Dax caught up to him.

"Come on, let's get him up," Mack said. Dax nodded as he and Mack each took hold of one of Tyzonn's arms and slowly lifted him off Ronny. Will stood up and helped the two guide Tyzonn's body to the ground. Rose quickly kneeled beside Ronny.

The sudden loss of the weight on top of her made Ronny slide back into conciousness, if only to find out what happened to that wonderful warmth. Her eyes parted slightly to see Rose's face hovering over her. Her brows furrowed as she saw Rose's dark hair hanging on the sides of her face. Why isn't Rose still morphed? That's kind of silly, her mind thought hazily. But she was then aware that she was looking up through an unobstructed view, not through the visor of her helmet. Why am I not morphed anymore either? She wondered. She felt Rose put a hand on her cheek and looked up to see Rose's lips moving, but the sound just seemed so far away, Ronny didn't know what she was saying. Ronny blinked as her other senses slowly awoke and she noticed there was something wet, slick and slightly sticky on her hands, but couldn't comprehend what it was. The hand on Ronny's cheek felt to rise in urgency, as if someone was trying to get her attention. Ronny opened her eyes and saw Rose, her voice suddenly becoming clearer.

"…say something!" She heard Rose say. "Ronny!" Why was it suddenly so important for Ronny to speak? What happened?

"Rose?" Ronny finally said, figuring that might satisfy her friend. She was right, as she saw Rose's expression become less mixed with fear.

"Oh god, he doesn't look good," Ronny heard someone say. "Ty, come on, wake up buddy."

"My hands are sticky," Ronny said. Rose's expression went grim but she said nothing. Ronny's head fell to the side as her eyes landed on three bodies kneeling over something. Her mind recognized them as Dax, Will and Mack. What are they doing? She wondered. All she saw was something lying on the ground by Will. It looked yellow. No……..not yellow, blonde. Why was there something blonde on the ground? She wondered just as her eyes drifted shut and sleep embraced her.

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Ronny groaned as conciousness slowly returned to her. Her eyes slowly opened only to be staring up at something yellow. Her mind became less fuzzy as she realized it was the ceiling of her room in the Hartford mansion. How did I get here? She asked herself. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, only to have the pain her body had suffered come back to her like a ton of bricks. She groaned again and looked down at herself. She was sprawled out on her bed in her training uniform. Well, most of it anyway, as she noticed she wasn't wearing her jacket or the yellow shirt she had worn under it. She was just wearing her black pants and the black sports bra she had had on. She also noticed a bandage stretched around the skin between the sports bra and pants. She lifted up one of her hands and gave the bandage a tentative tap, as if she needed to see whether or not it was really real. The woven texture under her finger tips seemed to prove that. Her brows furrowed as she saw something on her hand. She turned her hand around so that her palm was facing up and noticed something caked into the lines in the palm. Her eyes squinted and she realized it was some kind of silvery thing.

"Oh, Ronny, I'm glad to see you're awake," came a voice. Ronny looked up to see Spencer standing at her door.

"Spencer?" Ronny asked as he went over and sat by her bed. "What happened?" She asked. Spencer seemed to regard her with a grim expression. That's the same way Rose looked at me, Ronny thought. Ronny gasped as it all came back to her. The blonde thing…………..Ty……….. "Where are the others?" She demanded.

"Downstairs in the lab, but-" Ronny didn't let him finish as she quickly scrambled out of bed. "Ronny," Spencer protested. Ronny ignored him as she grabbed her yellow shirt from the back of a chair and quickly left the room, pulling the shirt on as she sprinted down the hallway of the mansion. She barely even felt the strange dampness that touched her bandaged stomach as soon as her shirt was on.

---

Ronny finally reached the underground lab and came to a halt. She saw Dax, Rose, Mack, Will and Mr. Hartford all gathered around something with their backs to her.

"What's going on?" She asked. The others quickly looked back at her. Ronny's face contorted into a puzzled expression as she saw their faces. Rose's eyes looked wet, and their were fresh tear tracks down her face. Mack looked like he was trying to keep himself from crying while Mack and Dax stared with empty eyes. Mr. Hartford looked on with a sort of helpless expression. "What is it?" Ronny asked, not understanding what was going on. "Where's Tyzonn?" She asked. This seemed to throw Rose into a fresh fit of sobs as she covered her mouth to muffle the sound. Mack put an arm around her and let her burry her face in his shoulder. It was then that Ronny finally noticed the wetness on her shirt. She looked down and saw a large silver splotch on her shirt, matching what she had seen caked on her hand. She looked up at the others. Their expressions, and the silver on her hand and shirt seemed to put all the pieces together. It was blood…….Mercurian blood.

"No…" Ronny whispered before quickly rushing over. She stood between Mr. Hartford and Will, finally seeing what they all had been staring at beforehand. There, on what looked to be a makeshift medical table, lay Tyzonn. His jacket had been removed and he lay there in only his training pants with a bandage stretched across his midsection. But it was what was on the bandage and underneath him that caught Ronny's attention—the gauzy bandage seemed to be nearly drenched with silver and their was a small silver puddle beneath him. "Why.." Ronny asked, her voice sounding horse. "Why……why aren't you fixing him?" Ronny asked. Mr. Hartford looked at her, he knew the question was directed to him.

"There's nothing I can do," he said gently. Ronny's eyes seemed to blaze at that and before anyone could react, Ronny grabbed him by his shirt collar and pushed him, pinning him against the wall.

"Dad!" Mack exclaimed.

"What do you mean, there's nothing you can do?" Ronny said, her voice very close to snarling. "You fixed him the last time, fix him again!"

"Ronny, stop it," she heard Will say, but in this moment, no one else in the room seemed to matter or effect Ronny in the slightest way.

"This is different," Mr. Hartford explained. Before he could continue, Ronny felt a pair of hands pry her fingers off of Mr. Hartford as another arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her up off her feet, pulling her away. She looked up to see Will holding her in place, away from Mr. Hartford and Mack standing by his father. "The last time the Fearcats attacked him, it hurt his molecular structure, so fusing him back together using his metallic nature was plausible," Mr. Hartford went on to explain. Through his eyes, it was clear that it pained him to not be able to do something now. "But this time…" he continued, his voice trailing off. "I'm sorry," he said. Ronny's now tearfilled eyes fixated on the prone figure lying before them.

"He's……" she whispered, trying to hold back her sobs. She felt Will take his arm off her waist and place it around her shoulders.

"He's dying," Mr. Hartford said. "All…." His voice cracked a bit, he cleared his throat before continuing. "All we can do is keep him comfortable until…" Ronny lost internal battle against her sobs and felt her legs give out from under her as the sobs erupted from her mouth. Will quickly grabbed onto her waist again to keep her from falling as she buried her face in his chest.

"Come on," Will whispered against her hair. "Let's get you upstairs." Ronny couldn't bring herself to react in any way as Will took her out of the lab and made his way to take her back up to the house. The others stood back and watched them leave. Once they were gone, Mack turned back to his father.

"Are you all right?" He asked, illiciting a faint nod from Mr. Hartford.

"Should we…….uh……..I mean…………do we leave him……..like this?" Dax asked, still having trouble grasping the idea that there was nothing any of them could do for their friend. Mr. Hartford shook his head.

"Let's……let's take him upstairs," he said. Tyzonn deserved better then to be left to die on a cold metal slab. Mack nodded, agreeing with his father before looking over at Rose. Her sobs had died away long ago as she now stared at Tyzonn, her eyes shining with as of yet unshed tears. Mack walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him. She blinked, letting a tear fall from her eye and roll down her cheek. Mack cupped her face with his hand and used his thumb to wipe at the lone tear.

"Why don't you go up and help Will with Ronny?" He suggested. He knew that it would be up to him, Dax and his father to move Tyzonn and he didn't think it would do Rose any good to have to stand there and watch it. Rose gave him a numb nod. Mack looped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, letting her lay her face onto his chest for a moment. He sighed as he felt her tears trickle into his red shirt before brushing his lips against her forehead. After another minute or so, Rose slowly let him go and left the room. Mack watched as she left before turning back to the others who still remained with him. "Okay," he said. There was no reason behind this, he just felt like something had to be said, something needed to pierce the silence in the room before the three of them tended to Tyzonn.


	3. You Are Not Alone In Life

Disclaimer: You know the drill...

* * *

Once Will got Ronny upstairs and into her room, the yellow ranger simply curled up on her bed with her back to him. Will sighed and pulled a chair over to her bed and sat down. There was nothing he could say and it was clear there was nothing Ronny wanted to say at this point, so he figured it'd be best to simply sit with her. He heard the door creaking open behind him and looked back to see Rose stepping into the room. He gave her a slight nod of acknowledgement as she crossed over to the bed and sat down at the edge of the bed by him.

"Is she……okay?" Rose asked, although even she knew that was a stupid question. Will closed his eyes and shook his head. Rose looked down at Ronny and placed a hand on her arm, trying to do anything she could to help her friend. Beside them, Ronny simply stared out her window as her tears cascaded down her cheeks and dropped onto her bed. She didn't even bother wiping them away as they tickled her chin; she just stared blankly ahead of her.

"Where are the others?" Will asked. Rose looked back at him.

"They're bringing…..um…..Tyzonn up……to…….make him comfortable," Rose replied hesitantly, afraid that mentioning Tyzonn would elicit some sort of unpleasant reaction out of Ronny, but Ronny paid them no mind. Will nodded and the two joined Ronny in silence. Will sat back in the chair with his eyes trained on Ronny's huddled form. He wished there was something he could do, for both Tyzonn's and Ronny's sakes. They were the people he held to the highest regard in the team, his closest friends, and the current situation was breaking him.

It wasn't so much that he felt closer to Ronny and Tyzonn then he did with the others, he felt close to all of them. But when it came to Ronny and Tyzonn, there seemed to be a different type of friendship. Maybe deeper than the others, but Will wasn't sure about that. He had a deep relationship with all of his new friends, there were just different types.

Ronny had been the first one he had felt drawn to back when the team was first formed. The two had similar adrenaline ridden personalities so it was only natural that they feel drawn to each other. Will had been genuinely intrigued by the way Ronny carried herself. She managed to find the right balance between exhibiting slightly tomboy-ish behavior and femininity. As Will and Ronny become closer friends, Will had found himself feeling attracted to this and spending nights thinking about going somewhere beyond friendship with the yellow ranger. But there was something about Ronny that made trying to approach this matter difficult. Will had always prided himself at being incredibly smooth with the ladies, but for some reason he couldn't turn on that flirtatious charm when it came to her. Of course, it didn't help matters after seeing how Ronny looked at Tyzonn once he joined the team. Will could tell right then and there that Tyzonn was the one who had captured Ronny's heart.

As much as he would've liked to be bitter and even be cruel towards Tyzonn, Will decided not to dwell on it. He couldn't fault Tyzonn for what Ronny felt, it wouldn't be fair. Of course, it became even more difficult to harbor any negative feelings for the Mercury ranger once Tyzonn proved to be such a loyal friend to him. A part of him saw that if for some reason Tyzonn was to ever become aware of how Will felt for Ronny, he'd step back, regardless of how he might feel for Ronny, simply to avoid doing anything that would damage the friendship he and Will had. That realization, and the sneaking suspicion that Ronny's feelings for Tyzonn weren't completely one sided made Will decide to let go. Let Ronny go, more specifically. Who was he to stand in the way of whatever happiness his two friends could have?

Will bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling as he remembered Tyzonn trying to, unsuccessfully, follow in Will's footsteps when it came to the ladies and other things. Will had no doubt that somehow Tyzonn had grown to idolize him and wanted to be like him, but another part of him was almost certain that what Tyzonn really wanted was to learn the art of wooing the fairer sex so he could use such talents on the yellow ranger.

Out of the corner of his eye, Will saw someone walk into the room. He turned to see Spencer standing by the door.

"Is there…….anything I can get for you?" He asked, directing the question to the three rangers, but Ronny was too lost in her grief to hear and Rose was too busy trying to figure out some way to comfort her friend. Spencer simply stood by the door, looking as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to be there. In the months that he had known Spencer, Will had never seen him look this way. Spencer was always the cool, calm, collected and level headed butler. Spencer no longer had that amusing wit and sharp, yet respectable, tongue of his. This change seemed to make everything all too real for Will. It proved to him that no, this wasn't a dream.

"No, thank you Spencer," Will said, deciding to speak for the group. Spencer nodded. His eyes peered between Will and Rose, sighing sadly at the sight of Ronny. It was pretty obvious how Ronny felt for Tyzonn. Everyone knew about it. Well, Spencer thought to himself, everyone but Tyzonn himself.

"Did the others bring Tyzonn upstairs?" Rose asked while her eyes were still trained on Ronny. Spencer nodded, and then remembered that the pink ranger wasn't even looking at him.

"Yes, they put him in his room," Spencer said. He took a deep breath. "If there is anything you need, please let me know," he said before quietly leaving.

"How long," Will heard Rose say in a small voice. "How long do you think it'll be until…." Her voice trailed off as she looked at him with shining eyes. Will looked down and clenched his hands together.

"I don't know," he said. After that, the room was yet again engulfed in silence as each member in the room was too lost in their own thoughts to contribute anything to any sort of conversation. After some time, Rose noticed that Ronny's breathing had slowed and her eyes were now closed. She sighed and gently stroked her friend's hair.

"Is she asleep?" Will asked. Rose looked at him and nodded.

"I can't believe this is happening," Rose said, her head hanging low. Will nodded in agreement. He heard Rose give a slight sniffle before wiping at her eyes. "I can't help thinking…..what if…..What if it had been Mack?" She asked. Will looked at her with a slightly raised eyebrow before it became clear. There was something between Rose and Mack. Will had to hand it to them, they hid it well. Sure, there were moments that Rose seemed to show extra attention to Mack, but Will always figured it was just her being helpful to the leader of the team. Rose closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm terrible," she said. "One of my friends is dying in another room and here I am talking about what if it had been-"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Will said gently as he reached over and took her hand. "It's only natural for you to think that. You care about Mack. That doesn't mean you don't care about Tyzonn." He sat back, seeing that his words hadn't done much to remove her guilt. He decided to try a different tactic and put a smirk on his face. "So, you and Mack, huh? The brainiac and the rich boy," he joked. Rose rolled her eyes and smacked his leg.

"Don't call him that," she said, causing Will to smile. On the other side of Rose, Ronny stirred slightly and turned her head to look at them. "I'm sorry," Rose said gently. "We didn't mean to wake you." Ronny simply looked at them.

"Do you want something to eat?" Will asked. Ronny shook her head slightly. "Are you sure? Spencer coul-"

"I'm fine," Ronny snapped. Will shut his mouth and nodded. Ronny shrugged her shoulder, making Rose take her hand off her arm. "Could you two just go, please?"

"Ronny," Rose began, but stopped when she heard Ronny give a frustrated groan.

"Just leave, all right?" She snapped. Rose and Will looked at each other, unsure what to do. Ronny saw their hesitation and sat up in her bed. "Leave," demanded.

"Ronny, you shouldn't be alone right now," Rose said, which only resulted in Ronny rolling her eyes.

"Well, that's funny, because that's exactly what I want, so go," she replied. "Get out!" She shouted, causing Rose to scoot away from her on the bed, startled by her friend's outburst. Will stood up and took Rose's elbow in his hand.

"Come on, let's go," he said, pulling her up to her feet. Rose stood up and followed Will to the door before looking back at Ronny.

"I'm here….we're all here…..whenever you don't want to be alone anymore," she said before she and Will left, shutting the door behind them. Ronny pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her fingers in her hair as her insides burned with her anger and sorrow.


	4. Rest Your Head and Go to Sleep

Disclaimer: Nope, not owned by me.

Note: The song used in this chapter (and has pretty much been playing the theme to the whole story) is "Our Farewell" by Within Temptation.

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"So, there's really nothing we can do?" Dax asked. The question tore Mack away from gazing down at Tyzonn from his seat beside the bed. He looked across the bed to where Dax was sitting at the other side. Mack pursed his lips, unsure what to say. The lack of response seemed to be enough of an answer for Dax. He closed his eyes. "Well this…..sucks," he said bluntly. "I mean, we're the power rangers. We've got all these powers to save the world and everything, but we can't do anything for our friend?" Dax ranted on. "It blows!" Mack simply nodded.

"Of course it does," came a voice from the door. Dax and Mack looked over to see Will and Rose entering the room. "Ronny kicked us out," Will stated, feeling as if he needed to explain their presence. They stepped further into the room and joined their friends at Tyzonn's side. Will went around the bed and took a seat by Dax as Rose sat beside Mack.

"How is he?" Rose asked. Mack sighed and rubbed his face with his hand.

"Is breathing's gotten a little shallower," Mack said. Rose reached over and took his hand in hers. Across the bed, Will's eyes had fixated on Tyzonn the second he sat down, his intense gaze showed no signs of letting up.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm all for seeing exactly how many ways there are to skin a cat….Benglo especially," Will said. For the most part, his tone seemed neutral, but the others could pick up on the rage he was trying to keep at bay.

"Here, here," Dax replied. Mack and Rose stayed silent.

---

Back in Ronny's room, Ronny stayed sitting on her bed with her knees up to her chest. She closed her eyes as tears collected beneath her eyelids. A part of her wanted to get up and go to Tyzonn, be with him, but another part was afraid. She didn't think she could handle sitting by his side as he slowly faded away from the world of the living. That is, unless he's already dead, she thought to herself. That thought only brought more tears to her eyes and a large lump in her throat. She took a deep breath as she opened her tear-blurred eyes. She needed a distraction, and with that thought in mind, she got up from her bed and walked over to her dresser where her boom box sat. She didn't care what came out of the speakers as she simply hit play on the CD player. What she hadn't bothered to remember was the fact that the cd in the player was a mix that one of her friends from her pit crew made for her, and that the very first song on the CD was something that would only shove her deeper into her despair. Ronny sighed as the slow melody of the intro filled her room. She turned away from her dresser and closed her eyes.

_In my hands  
A legacy of memories  
I can hear you say my name  
I can almost see your smile  
Feel the warmth of your embrace  
But there is nothing but silence now  
Around the one I loved  
Is this our farewell?_

Ronny's eyes snapped open as she realized what song it was. When her friend had given her the mix CD of songs from some of the bands he liked and wanted her to hear, she didn't understand why he had put such a depressing song as the first track. And at this very moment, she damned him for that.

_Sweet darling you worry too much, my child  
See the sadness in your eyes  
you are not alone in life  
although you might think that you are_

The song only did to increase the rate of her tears and the size of the lump in her throat, and yet, she couldn't bring herself to turn around and stop it. Instead, she pressed her back against the dresser and slid down to a sitting position on the floor, her knees up at her chest again. She clenched her hands together on top of her knees as the song continued.

_Never thought  
this day would come so soon  
we had no time to say goodbye  
how can the world just carry on?  
I feel so lost when you are not at my side  
But there is nothing but silence now  
Around the one I loved  
Is this our farewell?_

As the song continued, Ronny opened her mouth and let her sobs pour out of her. Her shoulders shook and her chest heaved from the force of what was inside her. She unclenched her hands and slid them down to her stomach as she wrapped her arms around herself and leaned forward, resting her forehead on the peak of her knees.

_Sweet darling you worry too much, my child  
See the sadness in your eyes  
you are not alone in life  
although you might think that you are_

Ronny tightened the embrace she had on herself, as if she was trying to recreate the feel of Tyzonn's arms around her from before. She wanted to feel that warmth, that comfort again. In the moment that Tyzonn had wrapped his arms around her, though she was so dazed by Benglo's attacks to fully comprehend what was happening, she knew she felt good. She felt as if all her aches and pains could melt away because of that embrace. And now, all she had left was a brief, hazy memory, and a shirt stained with Mercurian blood. She loosened her embrace on herself as she let her fingers graze the splotch on her shirt. It was no longer wet and felt hard and rough at her touch. The feel of the blood on her shirt seemed to fuel her anger. Her heart rate quickened and her breath came out in short puffs as she nearly tore the garment to shreds in taking it off. The force at which she pulled the shirt off made some of the stitches at the collar and sleeves tear and knocked the large yellow hair tie that held her light brown locks. Ronny gave a small grunt as she heaved the shirt across the room and lowered her head back onto her knees as her sobs retuned. The shirt sailed across the room and landed in a balled up heap in the tiny space of floor between her bed and window.

_So sorry your world is tumbling down  
I'll watch you through these nights  
Rest your head and go to sleep  
because my child, this is not our farewell.  
This is not our farewell._

Ronny stayed with her head down, her hair tumbled, hiding her face and crying as the song finished. She didn't even notice when the next song, a more upbeat and faster song, came on. She remained like this as the rest of the CD played, too submersed in her sadness to care about the background noise. It wasn't until the very last note of the very last track played and was followed by silence that she took notice of anything. The sudden lose of noise took her out of the reverie she had sunk into. She lifted her head and wiped at her eyes, only then noticing that the sun had set outside her window and she now sat in the pale, silvery light of the moon. She slowly pulled herself back onto her feet, a strange feeling of determination now radiating inside her. The last line of the song played in her mind—this is not our farewell—no, she told herself. This couldn't be her farewell to Tyzonn. She couldn't just sit in her room as Tyzonn lay dying. She had to be with him, had to let him know she'd be there for him until the end. But, she wondered, what if it's already happened? What if he was already dead and she had just sat there on her floor as it happened? That thought filled her with the urgent need to go to him right away. She didn't even bother to pull on a new shirt as she quickly left her room.

----

Will sat beside Tyzonn as the moonlight cast a sort of ethereal glow on his fallen friend. Mack, Rose and Dax had since grown tired—the day's battle catching up to them—but did not want to leave Tyzonn. Will looked over to the nearby wall where the three had gone to make themselves at least moderately comfortable. Mack sat against the wall with legs stretched out in front of him and Rose beside him. She was laid out on the floor, knees curled up in a fetal position and her head resting on Mack's lap. He had one hand resting on the side of her back while the other was simply resting on the floor on the other side of him. Next to them, by Tyzonn's dresser, Dax sat with his knees up to his chest and his head resting on the side of the dresser. Will, though very tired as well, stayed awake and by Tyzonn's side. He wanted to be there by Tyzonn's side until the very moment he slipped into his eternal rest. As time had worn on, Tyzonn's breathing had become even slower and shallower, but he was still alive…technically. A part of Will just wished it would happen already, figuring this torturously slow death was causing Tyzonn nothing but further pain. But then he thought of what that would mean. What the end of Tyzonn's suffering would lead to. He wouldn't be dying, still alive yet not by very much, he'd be dead. Will figured that perhaps he held onto some hope. Perhaps he still held onto a hope that at any moment now, there'd be some miraculous change and Tyzonn would be healed, awake, staring up at him and wondering what in the world all these people were doing in his room. Maybe some sort Mercurian healing mechanism would suddenly come to light and Tyzonn would give some explanation, like all the people on his planet had a built in response to life threatening wounds. If Tyzonn's suffering ended, then so would Will's hope. As it was, Will had sat waiting for something to happen, some magical occurrence that would leave Tyzonn alive and well, but nothing had happened. Tyzonn simply remained there, dying ever so slowly. Will heard the door slowly creak open followed by approaching footsteps.

"Is he…" came a small, raw voice. Will looked up and saw Ronny standing on the other side of the bed, staring down at Tyzonn. She stood there in only her black pants and sports bra, her hair tumbling past her shoulders. Had it been a different situation where the man Ronny did truly love, not to mention Will's best friend, was on the brink of death, Will would've made some cheeky comment about her current state. As it was, he barely noticed whatever sensual connotations _could've _come to mind at her appearance.

"No," he said. "Not…….not yet, at least." Ronny seemed to look marginally relieved at that as she pulled the chair Mack had been sitting in before even closer to the bed and sat down. Her hands reached over and enveloped Tyzonn's hand in their hold. Will heard her let out a shuddering breath.

"He's cold," she said softly. Will looked down as he felt his hope slowly begin to drain out of him. Without thinking, Will reached for the blanket that was folded at the foot of the bed. He took a hold of the top edge and pulled it up, unfolding the grey colored material in the process. He pulled the blanket up covered Tyzonn up to his chest. A cynical part inside Will seemed to roll its eyes and say 'why bother, it's not like that's going to help,' but he didn't care. True, a blanket wasn't going to fix anything at this point, but it was something. It made Will feel like he had done _something _for Tyzonn in this moment. Ronny's thumbs gently rubbed the back of Tyzonn's hand as she stared at his face. Even with the current circumstances, Ronny couldn't deny the fact that he looked beautiful to her; his eyes closed, fair hued eyelashes resting on the tops of his cheeks, wisps of his blonde hair falling over his forehead, the soft glow of the moonlight touching his face. Ronny took one of her hands off of Tyzonn's, the remaining hand clutching his firmly, and reached over, her free hand gently sweeping the hair off his face. She closed her eyes at the feel of his small, shallow breaths touching her wrist as she did so. "I should've told him," she said softly.

"Told him what?" Will asked, but he pretty much already knew the answer to that one.

"That……" she began, her voice trailing off. She pursed her lips as tears yet again came to her eyes.

"…You love him?" Will offered. Ronny looked up at him with glistening eyes. Will could see the surprise in her eyes, but it soon faded and she simply nodded. A small, silent sob escaped her as her tears trickled down. The hand that hand been sweeping his hair came down to rest on his cheek, her thumb caressed the skin in small circular motions. Will wondered if he should be sitting there as this went on. He felt like some type of voyeur. The hand on Tyzonn's cheek pulled away as Ronny gave the wandering appendage a final resting point on Tyzonn's blanket covered stomach.

"It probably wouldn't have mattered, anyway," she said. "Maybe its better I never said anything," she added.

"What do you mean?" Will asked.

"At least I avoided getting hurt or rejected," she said. "I mean, it's not like he felt the same," she paused and shook her head. "This doesn't matter now." Will shook his head and leaned forward, placing a hand on the hand that rested on Tyzonn's stomach.

"It matters," he told her. "And don't ever think you are anything less than the irresistible person than you are," he added, giving her a friendly smile. Ronny mustered a small smile through her tears, thankful for the gesture.

"Thanks," she said. "But you don't need to try to make me feel better," she added. She looked up at him. "I mean, I know about that Zoey girl," she said. Will paused at the initial unfamiliarity of that name before it came back to him. Zoey had been the girl that Tyzonn had been successfully able to flirt with, their interaction ending with her giving him her card. He remembered bragging about his pupil's success to the others, his mind not putting together the fact that this was probably something Ronny didn't need to hear about at the time. Will took his hand off of Ronny's and sat back, watching her as she watched Tyzonn.

"You should know," he finally said after a long moment. "That girl…didn't really mean anything to him," he admitted. Ronny looked up at him. "I mean…..she was just some nice looking girl at the street market. Tyzonn was just……..I guess……stretching his….flirt muscles, I guess you could say." Ronny regarded him with an incredulous look.

"Tyzonn wouldn't just…..lead someone on like that," she said. Will winced, realizing he hadn't chosen his words carefully enough.

"He didn't lead her on, per se. He was just trying to learn how to be……..well…….smooth with the ladies and needed to use what he had learned."

"Fine, even if he wasn't genuinely interested in that Zoey girl, he wanted to be 'smooth with the ladies' as you say. What difference does that make?"

"Because it was one lady in particular he wanted to be smooth with," Will replied. "You," he concluded. Ronny stared at him for a moment before looking back at Tyzonn, as if his face would show whether this was true or not.

"Me?" She asked incredulously. Will opened his mouth to say something but stopped as he saw her chin quiver and another sob roll out of her. Will sighed. Of course this revelation did nothing to help, why did he have to go and open his big mouth? All he had done was make Ronny even more mournful. Now, not only was she mourning the loss of Tyzonn, but also the loss of the possibility of what they could've had.

"I'm……sorry," he said helplessly, not that this apology would fix anything. He shut his mouth and simply sat as back as the sound of Ronny's tiny sobs and sniffling filled the room. After some time, Will's eyes began to droop as he leaned forward, his arms resting on the edge of the bed. Ronny continued to stare at Tyzonn and cry, though now the only sounds coming from her were the tiny sniffles. Will rested his head on his forearms and let the sound guide him into joining his other friends in slumber. Ronny stayed awake, watching Tyzonn. She squeezed his cold hand in hers and lifted it up, holding it by her cheek, as if the warmth of her body would somehow remove the frigid feel of his hand. As the slow breathing and soft snores came from her sleeping friends, Ronny kissed the back of Tyzonn's hand.

"You should've told me," she whispered to him. She wanted to be angry at him, if only to rid herself of the sorrow burning a hole inside of her, but she couldn't. There was no part of her that could bring itself to be angry at him. "You can't do this," she said. "You can't just…….leave me…….us……..me….like this……it's not fair," she said. Her jaw tightened slightly. "Do you hear me? It's not fair, damn it." She scooted the chair even closer to the bed and brought her other hand up from his stomach up to his face again, cupping his cheek in her hand and turning his face towards her. She leaned forward, bringing her face by his. "I can't lose you," she whimpered. "Not now, it's too soon. I just found you……you can't do this." She closed her eyes as more tears fell. "You can't just give up on this like you did with your rescue duties after your team died," she said. She tilted her face down, resting her forehead against his as she coughed out a tiny sob. His thin and weak breaths hit her eyelids as she cried. She stood up, abandoning the chair and sitting on the edge of the bed, needing to be even closer to him. She leaned over him, stroking his face gently. "Don't leave me," she pleaded. She blinked as more and more tears trickled from her eyes.

He's still alive, she thought to herself. He can still fight. "Stay with me," she said as she leaned forward, her face merely inches away from his. "Stay, for this," she whispered as she closed the distance between them and placed her lips on his. The breaths from his nostrils tickled her philtrum, mixing with the slow and steady breaths coming from her own nostrils. She slowly kissed him, her lips parting his gently as both her hands cupped his face. Her tears splashed down onto his cheeks as she kissed him. Her lips stilled on his and pulled back to simply rest on his as she felt the breathing hitting the top of her lip stop. She clenched her eyes as a devastated sob threatened to rip out of her very soul. She sat up, her hands leaving his face and resting on his blanketed chest. "Tyzonn," she whimpered as she chocked out a sob. Ronny lifted one of her hands and covered her mouth, afraid that her sobs would wake the others. It wasn't so much out of consideration for them, more so that she did not want them to be awake. She did not want them to flock over to them and alternate between trying to comfort her and mourn the loss of their friend. Her body seemed to go in a sort of automatic mode as she turned and pulled her legs up to the bed, lying down beside him. She continued to sob softly as she curled up beside Tyzonn's body. She wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders as she buried her face in the crook of his neck and cried. She didn't care that she was lying beside and holding a dead body, she just wanted to feel him. She wanted to feel the warmth of being near him, even if all warmth had now left his body. She held him even tighter as her tears went from a trickle to a full on flood.

It was over. Tyzonn, the man she loved, was dead and she was left to mourn him and what could've been.


	5. Your World Is Tumbling Down

I thought about being evil and not putting up the next chapters for a while longer ……..but…….my better nature (and the dang muses that refuse to let up, ha-ha) got the better of me so I decided to be kind.

This was originally going to be the last chapter but I realized a. it was getting too long and b. people seemed to really be wanting to see what happened next and I wasn't finished yet, so I decided to split the chapter down the middle. The final final chapter should be up sometime this weekend at the latest.

* * *

Somewhere amidst her sobbing, Ronny at shifted back onto her side, her arm falling away from Tyzonn's shoulders and lying on his chest as her head rested on the edge of the pillow his head occupied. She stared as the gleaming moon shined on the profile of his face. By this time, her throat felt too sore and raw to let loose anymore sobs and it felt like her tear ducts had dried up into nothingness, leaving her lying beside Tyzonn's body feeling empty and numb, completely hollow inside. As she continued to stare at Tyzonn's still face, her eyelids began to get heavy until she could finally no longer hold them up anymore and she drifted off to sleep.

Her eyes opened to see the rising sun drifting through the window. She sighed as the fingers of her right hand curled against Tyzonn's chest. She jumped slightly as she saw Tyzonn's hand, the one closer to the other side of the bed, move ever so slowly and lay upon her hand, his hand holding hers gently. It was then that her mind realized that this was not real, just a dream. Another of the many dreams she had had of him since the moment he joined the team, which consisted of waking up next to Tyzonn as the sun rose outside the window. She saw Tyzonn's head roll to the side, facing towards her as his silvery blue eyes opened sleepily. She smiled.

"Ty…" she said. The look in his eyes made her heart race and her eyes light up as she prayed that no one dared to wake her from this dream.

"Ronny," Tyzonn whispered his voice low and having an almost husky sound. She felt his other arm move beneath her until it was wrapped around her waist. He pulled her closer to him until their bodies smushed together. Ronny felt her eyes drift shut as Tyzonn laid his head against hers, his lips gently touching the space between her eyebrows as his nose nuzzled at her hairline. Oh god, she prayed to herself, please just let me sleep forever. She pressed her hands against his chest; her fingers gently caressed the soft toned flesh of his body. Ronny liked this dream much more than the others she'd had. The dreams she had had before were bereft of sensory involvement, leaving her only to have the image of him beside her. One or two had left her a sort of imagined sense of the texture of his skin, but this seemed to go above and beyond that. She could feel the flesh beneath her fingers, the texture and contours of his lips on her face, the breath on her forehead. All of this made her pray she had somehow fallen into a type of coma and she could just stay in this dream forever. She tilted her head up, her eyes locking with his as she unconsciously licked her lips. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw his eyes shift down to her lips. She shifted closer to him, her eyes drifting shut as their lips seem to come closer and closer together.

"Oh……oh my god," she heard a voice say just as an inch separated them…….Will, no doubt alarmed that she was sleeping beside the dead body of their friend. "Oh god." No, no, her mind screamed. Don't wake me up! Don't wake me up, please! She ducked her head low, burying it in the soft surface of Tyzonn's chest. "Guys, wake up," No, stop it! Ronny pleaded within the confines of her mind. She wanted to stay asleep. She wanted to stay in a world where Tyzonn was still alive and touching her. She could hear footsteps; this seemed to tell her that she was sliding out of her dream world. "Wake up," she heard Will say, followed by what sounded like his foot lightly hitting something. She knew why Will was waking them up. He was waking them up to tell them Tyzonn was dead. But she already knew this, so why did she need to wake up? She heard Will move before repeating his previous statement.

"No," she groaned, her voice hitting the chest it resided on.

"What is it?" She heard Dax's sleepy voice ask. "Why the heck did you kick me, man?" This was followed by the sounds of Rose and Mack groaning. No, Ronny's mind repeated. She silently vowed to murder Will the moment she did wake up, before crawling back into the bed and hoping she returned to this marvelous dream.

"Mack, go get your dad," she could hear Will say. "It's Tyzonn, he's……." Dead, Ronny's mind finished the sentence for him. I know this, now shut up! "He's awake!" The sound of Will's joy as he said this made Ronny's eyes go wide. Is this still my dream? She wondered. No………no…….why would I have the others in here with us? She then heard the sound of three bodies scrambling up to their feet. She lifted her head and turned to see Rose, Will, and Dax standing at the foot of the bed as Mack stood by the wall for a moment before quickly running out of the room.

"Wai…….Wha…….I," Ronny stammered incoherently at the sight of the three happy faces. She turned her head and looked up at Tyzonn, who seemed to have not even noticed all the commotion as his eyes remained trained on her. Ronny reached her hand up and touched his cheek, afraid to believe this was real. Suddenly, she felt Tyzonn being pulled away from her. "No," she mumbled, only to see that Will had grabbed him into a hug, leaving Ronny lying there in her confusion. She heard Tyzonn laugh and looked up to see him sitting up as Will hugged him. Tyzonn gave a chuckle before placing his hands on Will's back to return the gesture.

"I am happy to see you too, Will," he said, his voice a mixture of happiness and confusion. Rose and Dax crowded around behind Will, as if waiting to embrace him as well. Ronny blinked before slowly sitting up, watching the scene play out before her. Rose caught her gaze and rushed over to the other side of bed, placing her hand on Ronny's shoulder and giving it a happy squeeze.

"He's okay," Rose gushed, but Ronny was too lost in her confusion to do anything but stare blankly. The room became alive with movement as Mack returned with Mr. Hartford and Spencer trailing behind them. The two older men had worn skepticism ridden expressions as they walked in, which quickly morphed into joyful surprise as they saw Dax now hugging Tyzonn and Tyzonn chuckling as he returned the hug.

"We thought you were a goner, man," Dax said. Mr. Hartford went over to where Will and Dax where, squeezing between them as he tried to get to Tyzonn. Ronny felt Rose's hand disappear from her shoulder as the smaller female in pink turned around and enveloped Spencer in an excited hug. The butler laughed before placing a hand on the small of her back. Ronny squeezed her eyes shut as the movement around her seemed to become a blur; her mind whirling, freefalling into uncertainty. It was then that she felt her self falling backwards.

"Whoa, whoa, Ronny!" She heard Mack's voice and arms catching her as she fell off the bed before she sank into unconsciousness.

---

It had all been a dream, Ronny thought bitterly as she stood over the open grave in the Hartford backyard. The others had already lowered Tyzonn's coffin into the hole as Ronny watched with Rose by her side.

"Do you want to say anything?" She heard Rose asked. Ronny shook her head. She watched as Mack and Will lifted up their shovels and slowly began filling the grave. Ronny closed her eyes, her stomach burning with the sobs she did not want to release. Her eyes opened and she was shocked to see that she was no longer standing with Rose, but lying on something rough. She felt something hit her leg and looked down to see dirt was being lowered onto her.

"What…" She wondered out loud. She looked up and saw that she was in the grave and Mack and Will were shoveling the dirt in. Dax and Mr. Hartford stood by, as did Rose and Spencer. "Guys?" She asked, yelping slightly as another clump of dirt hit her leg.

"Goodbye, Ronny," she heard someone say sadly. She blinked as she saw Tyzonn standing by Dax and Mr. Hartford.

"Tyzonn!" Ronny exclaimed. She jumped up to her feet just as another clump of dirt fell, landing on her head. She shook her head and grabbed onto the side of the grave as she tried to climb out, but couldn't seem to get a solid hold on. "Stop!" She screamed as more and more dirt continued to fall on her from above. "Tyzonn! Help me, please!" She screamed. She finally was able to jab her foot into the side of the grave and used it to pull herself up. Mack and Will continued shoveling the dirt as if the didn't see her as she tried to climb out of the grave. But somehow, she lost her grip. Ronny screamed as she fell back to the bottom, landing on her back as the dirt continued pouring down on her. She sputtered as some dirt fell into her mouth. "Ty!" She pleaded. The dirt continued until she was completely covered, no one hearing her pleas and shouts.

"NO!" Ronny screamed as she bolted up right and violently swept her hands over her arms, tears springing to her eyes. She shrieked when she felt a pair of hands on her arms.

"Ronny!" She heard someone say.

"The dirt…." She whimpered as she tried to push the phantom dirt off of her. "Get it off…please…" She felt a hand on her cheek.

"Ronny, there's no dirt……it was just a dream, its okay," the voice said soothingly. Ronny's flailing arms settled as she panted, small hiccupping sobs coming out of her. She blinked as her eyes focused and she realized where she was. She no longer was in the filling grave; instead, she was in her room, sitting up in her bed. She blinked again as her eyes focused and she saw Rose sitting in front of her, a concerned look on her face as she had one hand on Ronny's cheek and the other on Ronny's arm. Ronny closed her eyes and fell forward into her friend's embrace, laying her head on Rose's shoulder. She felt Rose take her hands off her face and arm before hugging her. "It's okay," she said softly. After Ronny was able to calm down, she gently pulled out of the embrace and sat back with her back against the headboard. "Are you okay?" Rose asked. Ronny bit her lip, unsure how to answer that.

"I…….I don't know," she replied honestly. "Wha….what happened?"

"You passed out in Tyzonn's room," Rose explained. "You nearly fell off the bed, thankfully Mack was right there to catch you."

"Tyzonn……is he………….where is he?" Ronny asked. Rose smiled.

"Downstairs. Mr. Hartford's checking him out to make sure he's really okay," Rose said. Ronny closed her eyes as those words drifted into her ears.

"You mean……he's really………." Ronny whispered, unsure if it was safe to hope. At this point she wasn't sure if she trusted herself to decipher the real from the unreal.

"He's alive, Ronny," Rose said. A part of her wanted to say 'you were there, of course you know he's alive' but Rose could see the state her friend was in and wasn't about to assume that Ronny's mind was clear and logical at the moment. "It looks like he got better during the night, maybe some type of healing mechanism in his genetic code or something," Rose theorized. Ronny stared at her.

"What? Got better?" Ronny asked before shaking her head. "……Rose……it was more than that, he-" Ronny was cut off by the bedroom door opening as Spencer walked in with a glass of orange juice in his hand.

"Rose, I figured Ronny would like some ju-" he paused when he saw that Ronny was awake. "Ah," he said, smiling as he walked over to the bed and handed the glass to Ronny. "How are you feeling?" He asked. Ronny paused for a moment before giving the older man a smile.

"Fine," she said.

"Good," he said.

"How are things downstairs?" Rose asked, knowing that Ronny wanted to know what was going on with Tyzonn.

"Ah, very He let his voice trail off, indicating that considering they all had thought Tyzonn would die, everything was well. "Aside from the wounds that still need to heal, it looks like Tyzonn is the pinnacle of health," he said. Ronny felt herself smiling a wide, genuine smile at this news.

"That's great," Rose said. Spencer nodded.

"Well, I'm going to return downstairs and see if they need anything," Spencer said before nodding a goodbye to the girls and leaving the room. Rose smiled at Ronny, but noticed that yellow ranger's smile held some hesitance and doubt in it.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked. Ronny set her glass on her nightstand before giving Rose a careful look.

"This is real, right? I mean….Tyzonn's really okay and I'm not going to wake up any moment to realize this is all a dream and Tyzonn is still dead, right?" Ronny asked. Rose furrowed her eyebrows before shaking her head.

"Ronny, Tyzonn's okay, he…" her voice trailed off as her mind process all Ronny had said. "Wait," she said, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Wait, what do you mean, _still _dead?" She asked. When she and the others had fallen asleep, Tyzonn's life was slowly draining out of him but he was still alive. They had all figured that he had just gotten better during the night. Ronny blinked and bit the corner of her lip before speaking.

"Rose……Tyzonn died last night," she told her, causing Rose to stare at her with raised eyebrows. "After you, Dax and Mack fell asleep; I came to the room and talked with Will for a while before he fell asleep. I was with Tyzonn and……." Ronny closed her eyes as the memory formed in her mind.

"What?" Rose asked.

"I…………I talked to him………I just…..I wanted him to stay, get better……..and then I….."

"You what?" Rose asked.

"Kissed him," Ronny revealed. Rose's eyebrows shot up even further. Ronny's eyes became distant as she remembered the feel of her lips on his, his breath tickling her face….and then stopping. "I….I could feel him breathing against my face. It was so…weak, and faint, but I could feel it. And then it stopped completely, he died," she said, a small lump forming in her throat. Rose sat back and took all this information in.

"Wow," Rose finally whispered. Her face then bore a large grin as she gave a little giggle, causing Ronny to give her an odd look. "It's like a fairy tale," she said. Ronny quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Uh, I don't know what books you've been reading, but I've never read the one where the guy dies," Ronny said. Rose shook her head.

"What, you've never read Sleeping Beauty?" Rose asked, grinning. "Your kiss brought him back to life……..albeit, the result wasn't as instant as in the story, but-" Ronny couldn't help laugh a bit before shaking her head.

"I don't doubt Tyzonn being okay is a miracle, but I don't think it's _that _miraculous," Ronny said. Rose shrugged.

"Yeah, okay, it's a little silly. It's the only explanation I could come up with," she said. Her face scrunched up in confusion for a second. "Ty didn't mention this."

"You talked to him?" Ronny asked.

"Well, after you passed out, everyone was pretty worried about you…..Tyzonn especially," Rose said, giving Ronny a quick wink. "Mack carried you in here while the rest of us stayed with Tyzonn. Mr. Hartford was trying to understand how he had gotten better and Tyzonn said he had just gotten better over the night. So nonchalant about it, as if he just had been suffering a cold." Ronny shrugged.

"I guess that seemed easier to explain then 'well, I died and then somehow came back to life'," Ronny said, half jokingly. Rose gave a small chuckle.


	6. This Is Not Our Farewell

Hey guys, sorry for holding off the chapter for so long. Got distracted with moving back home from PA and loads of other stuff, not to mention dealing with a little bit of writer's block.

Anyway, here it is, the final chapter. Hope you all have enjoyed reading the story as much as I have enjoyed writing it. There might be a sequel if there's enough interest for one and I'm able to come up with an idea...But I'm not making any promises at this very moment.

* * *

Mr. Hartford had given up on figuring out what exactly had happened to Tyzonn and decided it was just better to be glad that the newest member of the team was alive and well instead of wasting time wondering how the reversal of fortune had happened. However; the wound that went straight through Tyzonn's back and abdomen from where Benglo's weapon had struck the Mercury ranger wasn't completely healed, so Mr. Hartford ordered Tyzonn to complete and utter bed rest until the wound was fully healed. Mr. Hartford didn't know what miracle had happened to fix Tyzonn, and he wasn't about to risk the young man's life by letting him wander around—or even worse; fight—with an open wound. 

Over the following few days; Mack, Will, Rose and Dax each spent some time with Tyzonn in his room so he wasn't completely bored as he sat alone in bed. Rose had tried to get Ronny to go see him as well, but a part of Ronny was scared. She was afraid that the second she stepped into the room, the surroundings would dissolve into her nightmare. It wasn't until nearly a week later that Ronny finally had the nerve to go see him.

The other rangers had gone out to the mall and had invited Ronny, to which she respectfully declined. Before they had left, Rose suggested that perhaps she should keep Tyzonn company while they were gone. Ronny had dismissed Rose's pushing to go see him and decided to just spend the afternoon in her room. She spent the first hour in restless solitude, pacing around her room and picking up things from her desk and dresser before putting them back down in their original place. Somehow, in her restless wanderings, she ended up outside Tyzonn's door. Ronny paused as she stood outside the room, staring at the white wood grain material. It's just a door, she told herself, a door with a room on the other side. A bed room just like all the other bed rooms in this house. She took a deep breath.

"You can do this, Ronny," she coached herself. "It's not that big of a deal," she added. "Tyzonn's your friend and you are just going to see how he's doing." She gave herself a small nod before taking a deep breath before slowly opening the door and walking in. The first thing she saw was Tyzonn lying in his bed, sleeping peacefully. At first she stopped, doubt creeping in her mind as to if he was just sleeping, but that doubt disappeared when he gave a small sound—a mixture of a hum and a sigh—before turning from his stomach to his side. She slowly closed the door behind her, careful to not make much noise, before walking deeper into the room. She stood by the bed and simply watched him sleep for a short while. She couldn't help smile as he made the sound again, turning from his side to his back, obviously showing that though he was asleep he couldn't seem to find a comfortable position. This movement caused the blanket that had been pulled up to his shoulders to slide down to his waist, revealing his naked chest and stomach. Ronny saw there was a fresh bandage on the wound on his abdomen.

Ronny's eyes then landed on Tyzonn's Mercurian outfit that was hanging on the back of one of the chairs in the room. She walked over to the chair and placed her hand on the clothing. She smiled, lost in her own thoughts as she enjoyed the feel of the smooth fabric under her hand. She traced her fingers on the soft stitching on the edges. Behind her, Tyzonn turned his head to the side as sleep slowly left him. He gave a small, silent yawn before slowly pulling himself into a sitting position, careful not to aggravate his wound. He blinked a few times when his eyes fell on Ronny standing with her back to him. He smiled at the sight of her, opting to just sit back and watch her instead of getting her attention. While he had been happy to have his friends spend time with him, the one person he had truly wished to see avoided him, so to see her now standing in his room made him happy. After he watched her for a while, he couldn't stop himself from grinning as he finally spoke.

"I was beginning to think you'd never come by," he said. Ronny jumped and gasped before spinning around and seeing Tyzonn watching her with an amused look on his face.

"Tyzonn!" Ronny exclaimed with a sort of admonishing tone. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Tyzonn laughed, causing Ronny to narrow her eyes and cross her arms over her chest. "It's not funny," she said. Tyzonn's laughter settled down into a chuckle before he sobered up and simply nodded, his lips cracking into a smile. Ronny rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said, before looking like he changed his mind. "Well, think of it as punishment for waiting so long to pay me a visit," he kidded. Ronny pursed her lips together and looked down, feeling guilty.

"Right," she said. "I've just been…." She paused, unsure what to say. "Busy…..Mr. Hartford asked me to do some mechanical repairs on the zords," she lied. Tyzonn simply nodded. He sensed that that wasn't the truth, but decided not to push the issue.

"I see," he said. Ronny looked away, suddenly feeling awkward under his gaze.

"So….uh……how have you been?" She asked, mentally chastising herself at how lame she sounded.

"All right," Tyzonn replied. "Bored out of mind from just staying in bed," he added, "but it is better than…" he concluded, his voice trailed off. Ronny blinked and looked up at him as she heard the conversation was going towards what had happened.

"Right," she said. She gave him a smile. "It has to be better than just lying there……..uh…….you know…..dyin-" She stopped as the word caught in her throat. Tyzonn stared at her for a moment as his mind went back to that night. He remembered drifting out of life, dying as Ronny leaned over him. He hadn't told the others this for the simple fact that he lacked the desire to discuss what had happened, fielding multitudes of questions he didn't even think he could accurately answer. But Ronny had been there, Ronny knew what had really happened. He knew that the moment their reverie had been broken that morning.

"You can say it," he urged gently. "Dead. I was dead," he said. Ronny's eyes widened slightly at both the use of the word and the fact that he was admitting what had happened.

"I……" She began, ready to deny any knowledge of him dying before deciding to just be honest. "I didn't think you……..knew………I mean, you told the others you got better," she pointed out. Tyzonn nodded.

"Well, it seemed much easier to say I got better over night than to tell them the truth…that I died and came back to life," he admitted. Ronny nodded.

"That's what I told Rose," she said, and then noticed Tyzonn's confused look. "I told her……and she didn't understand why you didn't tell the others what really happened and I figured what you did tell them was easier than explaining what really happened," she paused, feeling like she was getting close to babbling. "So……you remember…..dying?" She asked. Tyzonn nodded.

"It was a strange feeling," he said.

"I can only imagine it would be," Ronny said. The two fell into a gentle silence, unsure what else to say. Ronny fidgeted awkwardly on her feet, shifting her weight onto her right leg for a moment before switching it to the left, and so on and so forth.

"You can sit," Tyzonn finally said, feeling as if Ronny was just standing there waiting for some sort of suggestion as to what to do next. Ronny gave him a simple smile before going over and sitting on the edge of the bed. She froze slightly as she suddenly was hit with a strong sense of deja-vu. This had been exactly where she had sat when she kissed him……..right before he died. Ronny looked down as she tried to banish the thought from her head. He's not dead, she told herself. He's sitting up in his bed, right next to you………Half naked……Ronny squeezed her eyes shut as her thoughts began to take a _different _turn and admonished herself for thinking such thoughts at a time like this. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt Tyzonn reach over and take her hand in his. She looked at him and was met with his gentle eyes staring back at her. "I'm glad you finally came to see me," he said. Ronny simply smiled again and nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Ronny nearly felt herself melt when she felt Tyzonn begin to rub his thumb along the back of her hand in small circles. She couldn't take her eyes off of his eyes as they began to have the same look they had had when she woke up that morning and thought she had been dreaming of being in his embrace. Tyzonn shifted slightly in his bed before bringing his other hand up and sweeping some of her loose hair back, tucking it behind her ear before letting his hand rest on the side of her neck. The feel of his hands on her was filling Ronny with a soft, pleasant sense of delirium, a feeling she didn't want to stop anytime soon. She simply sat there and watched as Tyzonn's eyes shifted from her eyes down to her lips, which she was currently nervously chewing on. The fingers on the side of her neck slowly began to message the soft flesh as he simply sat there, staring at her.

"Ty…" Ronny finally managed to say in a soft gasp; but whatever it was she was going to say, not that she had anything else to say, was cut off by Tyzonn leaning in and embracing her lips with his. Ronny's eyes drifted as she felt him softly kiss her, his lips gently suckling on her bottom lip. He let go of her hand and placed his now empty hand on her back and Ronny was more than happy to melt into his embrace as he pulled her closer to him. The two parted only for a nanosecond as Ronny wrapped her arms around his shoulders, placing her palms flat on the top of his back and kissing him back with all that she had inside of her. Tyzonn moved his hand from her neck and brought it up to her hair, scooping up the loose curls as he held her to him. Somehow, in the midst of their kissing, Ronny had ended up lying on the bed next to Tyzonn as he leaned over her, the two only stopping their kiss for mere seconds at a time to breathe. Ronny's hands left Tyzonn's back as they glided down his arms and down to his chest, until they finally found their resting spot on his waist, her hands lightly touching his bandage. She heard Tyzonn grunt gently and pull away from her. Ronny stared up at him as he bore a slight wincing expression as the two panted gently.

"What is it?" She said, her voice barely above a whisper. She swallowed gently as she tried to get her heart to stop jack hammering against her ribcage. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," he replied, shifting uncomfortably above her. "Just….a little sore," he said. Ronny blinked before understanding what he meant.

"Oh, oh man," she stammered worriedly as she sat up, making Tyzonn have to sit up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" She said, her voice trailing off. She looked down at where his wound was and was relieved to see there was no new appearance of his blood on the white cotton material.

"It's all right," he assured her. He smiled as he put a finger under her chin, making her look up from his wound. "**I'm** all right. It was worth it," he replied. Ronny pursed her lips as her cheeks burned brighter than Mack's ranger uniform.

"Oh," she said, a smile breaking out on her lips. Tyzonn grinned and leaned in towards her, placing a soft kiss on her cheek, which only made her blush intensify. "I…..I should probably go and let you rest," she said as she went to get up from the bed. Tyzonn quickly caught her hand and pulled her back, making Ronny tumble back onto the bed and fall on top of him. He winced slightly at the strain it put on his though mostly healed, still not totally healed wound, but was careful to hide it from Ronny who gave a playful groan. "Ty, your wound," she protested.

"I don't care," he said, making Ronny look at him. "I want you to stay," he said. Ronny smiled before she nodded gently. She slowly shifted so she was now lying beside him on the bed instead of on top of him.

"Fine," she relented. "But behave yourself," she added playfully. "You don't need to aggravate your wounds anymore than you already have," she said. Tyzonn smiled and nodded. He wanted to go back to kissing her, but even he had to admit that what they had already done had taken some energy of out him. As long as Ronny was there beside him, he saw no cause for complain.

"Agreed," he said. He put an arm around her shoulders and tried to pull her closer to him. Ronny was hesitant at first, but gave in with a smile as she scooted closer to him and carefully laid her head on his chest. Tyzonn smiled. Oh yes, he could definitely settle for this, he thought to himself as he felt Ronny's loose curls tickle his chest. The two settled into a comfortable silence in their embrace, reveling in the moment.

"Ty?" Ronny said, finally breaking the silence.

"Hmm?" He replied, smiling as he felt her lay her free hand on his chest and trace small circles on his skin with her fingers.

"What was it like?" She asked. Tyzonn furrowed his brows in confusion.

"What was what like?" He asked.

"The other night………..When you….you know," she said, still feeling unsettled by the event itself to not be able to say the words.

"When I died?" He asked. The brief pause of the gentle caressing on his chest told him he had been right.

"Yeah," she said softly. Tyzonn looked up at the ceiling, relieved to see she had regained her comfort enough to resume her caressing.

"It was……….strange," he admitted. "When I was lying here, I could hear everything that was going on around me," he said. Ronny froze and lifted her head up, looking in his eyes.

"You heard everything?" She asked. She feared he had heard her saying she loved him. A part of her rationalized that given their recent activity, such a fear was unwarranted. But nevertheless, she still feared how he'd react. Besides, she figured, kissing doesn't necessarily mean he loved her back. Tyzonn could see the fear and worry etched on her face and gave her a warm smile, gently stroking her face with his free hand.

"Everything," he confirmed. "I heard what you said to Will, I heard you begging me to stay with you," he said. Ronny blushed as her own words were brought back to her. She quickly laid her head back down in an effort to hide her blush. "I felt…." Tyzonn continued. "I felt you kiss me," he said. Ronny's eyes widened slightly at that. She soon felt Tyzonn rub her back with the hand that was holding her close to him.

"And then?" Ronny asked, feeling there was more to the story. She felt Tyzonn's chest rise and fall as he sighed.

"And then……..I was home," he said.

"Home?" She asked.

"Well………what looked like my home," he amended. "I don't think I was transported back to my planet," he chuckled gently. "Everything was calm……..peaceful, and I saw my old friends," he said.

"Wow," Ronny said. "That sounds……nice." Was Tyzonn resentful of being torn away from his friends to come back to the world of the living, she wondered.

"It felt nice," Tyzonn said. "But," he began. Ronny tilted her head up to look at him.

"But?" She asked.

"As happy as I was to see them, and be with them again…………I knew this wasn't where I was supposed to be. I," he paused as he let his voice trail off, trying to find the right words to continue. "Hearing what you and the others had said…….Hearing you telling me to fight and feeling you kiss me……….I knew I had to fight…………….And," he paused again, looking down into Ronny's eyes. "My friends understood. They told me to go back…….go back to you," he said, the last coming out in a gentle whisper. Ronny felt tears collecting in her eyes as she heard him speak. "And then….the next thing I remembered was waking up next to you," he said.

"Ty, I-" Ronny stopped, her voice coming out in a squeak. Tyzonn tilted her face up a bit with his free hand and captured her lips in a gentle kiss. Once the kiss ended, he looked into her eyes.

"I love you too," he whispered against her lips. Ronny squeezed her eyes shut as her tears slid down her cheeks.

"Oh, Tyzonn," she sighed happily as she curled up closer to him, laying her head in the crook of his neck. Tyzonn held her to him, laying a small kiss on the side of her forehead. After her tears subsided, she slowly sat up, disentangling from his embrace. Tyzonn looked up at her as she gazed down at him lovingly. Tyzonn slowly sat up as well and cupped her face in his hand.

"I'd like to continue kissing you now," he said, smirking lightly. Ronny laughed as the two closed the distance between them and continued their heated kissing from before. After a few seconds, Tyzonn grunted and pulled away, cursing under his breath as he eyed his healing wound with enough venom, you'd think he was gazing upon one of the Fearcats.

"Is it your wound again?" Ronny asked. Tyzonn gave a sort of frustrated sigh and nodded. Ronny gently touched the hand that was lying on the bed, trying to show him that as long as he was there with her……alive……she didn't care.

"Mr. Hartford told me to stay in bed so I do not overexert myself…….How was I to know that sitting up would be considered as overexerting myself," he grumbled. Ronny giggled gently at his now somewhat pouting expression before dawning a wicked smile as an idea crossed her mind. Tyzonn caught this look in the corner of his eye and looked up, unsure if he should be unsettled by her smile. "What?" He asked. Ronny's smile slowly faded as she tilted her head innocently, putting a hand against her shoulder.

"Well, you can't overexert yourself," she began coyly. Tyzonn felt her pushing on his shoulder gently. "So, maybe you should lie back down and let me do all the work." Tyzonn wasn't exactly sure what she meant but was curious to find out. He let her push him back down on the bed and stared up at her from his prone position. Ronny tucked her hair behind her ear and shifted on the bed until she was kneeling right next to him. Tyzonn was a bit surprised as he watched her lift one of her legs and throw it across is thighs before pulling herself up until she was kneeling over him, her weight proportioned so some was resting on his thighs and some was resting on her knees that were firmly placed on the bed either side of him.

"This is……interesting," he said, his pleased yet surprised tone not being lost on Ronny. Ronny smiled as she slowly bent forward, placing her hands on the sides of his neck as her lips came closer and closer to his.

"Is this all right?" She asked, mere inches away from his. She was a little worried about putting pressure on his wound. Tyzonn grinned.

"This is perfect," he said. Ronny smiled again before embracing his lips with her own again. Tyzonn lifted his hands up and placed them on her waist as Ronny moved on top of him as the kiss became more and more heated and passionate with each passing second. The world around them seemed to disappear, leaving only the two of them losing themselves in one another.

"Hey, Tyzonn-……….Oh!" The surprised voice startled the pair as they quickly pulled apart to see Rose and Mack standing in the doorway. Tyzonn and Ronny stared at the two with wide eyes.

"Uh…..hey guys," Ronny said nervously as she slowly slid off of Tyzonn.

"Uh……wow……Ronny, this wasn't exactly what I had meant when I said you should uh……….keep Tyzonn's company…." Rose stammered, blushing madly at the scene before her and Mack. Ronny blushed furiously at that as Mack chuckled, the sound mirroring Rose's nervous discomfort.

"Uh……we………picked you up something at the mall," Mack said to Tyzonn. "But……..uh……..seeing as you're……….um……..busy, we'll just leave it here," he said, taking the bag out of Rose's hand and setting it down on the floor. "And uh……..leave you two alone to uh………." he nervously cleared his throat. "Right……uh, c'mon Rose," he mumbled quickly before grabbing the pink ranger's hand with one hand and the doorknob with his other. He pulled Rose out of the doorway and quickly shut the door.

"Oh my god," Ronny said, laughing gently as she ducked her head down, feeling utterly embarrassed.

"That was……..something else," Tyzonn chuckled. He looked over at Ronny. "Well, since they're gone," he said, letting the sentence hang. Ronny chuckled and shook her head good naturally at the blonde before resuming her position on top of him. Tyzonn grinned.

----

Outside the room, Rose shook her head, feeling embarrassed about walking in on the two.

"I can't believe I said that," she said. Mack chuckled gently.

"Said what?" Came Dax's voice. The two looked up to see Dax and Will coming towards them.

"How's Tyzonn doing?" Will asked.

"Uh……..very well, I'd say," Mack said, scratching the back of his neck. "Ronny's in there with him," he said. Will and Dax took into account Rose's blushing face and were able to draw their own conclusions.

"Ohhhhhh," Dax said. "…….It's about time," the blue ranger chuckled.

"Come on," Will said. "Let's give the two lovebirds some privacy," he said as he ushered Dax away, expecting Rose and Mack to follow. Dax and Will disappeared around the corner of the hallway before Rose began to walk away as well. Mack quickly took her hand and stopped her mid-step. She turned to him and gave him a questioning look.

"Mack?" She asked.

"Come on," he said, leading her down the opposite end of the hallway. Rose, still confused as to what was going on, simply followed as Mack led her to his room. Mack came to a stop in front of the doorway to his room.

"What's going on?" She asked. Mack laughed gently.

"You know, for a genius you are pretty clueless," he said, looking down at her with warm eyes. Rose's eyes widened as she took a little offense to the remark.

"Hey-" her exclamation was cut short as Mack cupped her face in his hands and planted a small, chaste kiss on her lips. Rose stared up at him with a shocked expression. "Oh," was all she could say. Mack grinned.

"I guess you could say our friends gave me a little inspiration," he said. Rose smiled, nodding.

"Right," she said. Mack opened his door and let his pink companion enter first before he followed. As soon as he was close enough to her, he pulled her in her arms and kissed her, kicking the door shut with his foot. As the door slammed, on the other end of the hallway, Will leaned his head back around the corner, a smirk gracing the black ranger's features.

"It's about time," he said before walking away to join Dax in the rec room for a game of pool.

END


End file.
